Flammulina velutipes

The Japanese lead in popularizing this mushroom. In the wild, Flammulina velutipes is a short, furry footed mushroom. Usually cultured in chilled growing rooms, abnormally small caps and long stems are achieved by elevating carbon dioxide levels and limiting light exposure. This unnatural shape makes the harvesting of Enoki easy.

Mycelial Characteristics: White, longitudinally linear, becoming finely appressed and tinged light brown to spotted with golden yellow brown zones with age. The surface roughens, resembling fine sand paper, and sometimes becomes beaded at the earliest stage of primordia formation. Long stemmed, small capped mushrooms commonly form along the inside periphery of the petri dish or during cold storage of culture slants.

Substrate for Fruiting: A wide variety of hardwoods (oak, alder, poplar, cottonwood, aspen, willow, birch, beech, etc.), and some softwoods (Douglas Fur) although the latter is, in general, less productive. The pH range for fruiting falls between 5-6. Enokitake also grows on a wide variety of paper products.

Yield Potential: Biological effieiency rating to 150%, the preponderance of which is stem mass. If grown in 1 liter bottles, yields of 3-5 oz. are standard for the first flush.

---Growth Parameters---

Spawn Run:

Incubation Temperature: 70-75° F (21-24° C)

Relative Humidity: 95-100

Duration: 14-18 days

CO2: >5000 ppm

Fresh Air Exchanges: 0-1

Light Requirements: n/a

Primordia Formation:

Initiation Temperature: 45-50° (7-10° C)

Relative Humidity: 95-100

Duration: 3-5 days

CO2: 2000-4000 ppm

Fresh Air Exchanges: 2-4 per hour

Light Requirements: 100-200 lux

Fruitbody Development:

Temperature: 50-60* F (10-16* C)

Relative Humidity: 90-95

Duration: 3-5 days

CO2: 2000-4000 ppm

Fresh Air Exchanges: 2-4 per hour

Light Requirements: 100-200 lux.

Cropping Cycle:

Two to three crops, 10-12 days apart.

Comments: This mushroom is the classic example of the influences light and carhon dioxide have on fruitbody formation. Like Oyster mushrooms, this mushroom's appearance is contingent upon the environment in which it was grown. The growing room environment can be tuned to elicit the perfect crop. Over time, experienced growers can orchestrate flushes with precision and generate cluster-bouquets of golden mushrooms. Properly managed, each bundle achieves a remarkably similar weight.

Under outdoor conditions (moderate light/low CO2), this mushroom is short-stemmed with caps as wide as the stems are long. The lower regions of the stem develop a darkened fuzz, hence the common name "The Velvet Foot". Under the lighted, high carbon dioxide conditions, the stems greatly elongate and are yellow to white in color. The caps remain relatively small. While CO2 determines the length of the stem, light is an overriding factor in influencing the formation and development of the cap. Thus under high CO2 and no light conditions, thin stems may form usually without any caps. Most strains behave in this fashion but responses vary. Depending on the surrounding environment, the stems can be as short as 1 inch to as long as 12 inches. The cap to stem ratio varies from 1:1 to 1:100. This range in the shape of the fruitbody is remarkable.

The surface mycelium undergoes a radical transformation during the period of pre-primordia formation. The mycelium yellows, and then forms dingy, blemished brown and white zones, which soon evolve into a roughened, beaded surface. From this micro-landscape, a high population of minute, squat, yellow primordia emerge. The mushooms appear virtually stemless. If carbon dioxide levels are kept elevated, above 5,000 ppm., significant stem elongation continues. Japanese cultivators have invented the technique of fruiting in bottles that are topped with a cylindrical insert of clear plastic or paper. The cylinder pools carbon dioxide and the stems elongate. This technique encourages the formation of highly uniform flushes of mushrooms in each bottle.